Magazine plug for repeating shotguns



June 13, 1950 N. A. HEMMERLING 2,511,505

MAGAZINE PLUG FOR REPEATING SHOTGUNS Filed Dec. 7, 1948 fflg. 5. 26 fl/ BY INVENTO;

CZZormggs.

Patented June 13, 1950 Hi h MAGAZI-NE PLUG FOR REP-EATING sno'rGUNs Hematit ,li emme arbi egexef ls .N- Applieation December 7, 1943, SerialNo. 63,904

i v on r la e o ma zin ug tor repeating shotguns.

R eatingshetehns u al y hav e pee t ef six or mores-hells. In connection with-the huntin of .eert in types e same, t law requ re that the gun be plu e s h a mann r t at .the g n can only ,be loaded with a smaller hum ber of shells. The plu s us d mus he Qf e nature which eannot be quickly inserted since otherwise a person violating the law could readily insert a plug when he sees a game inspector approaching. On the other hand, it is also .de: sirable that the gun :be plugged in such a man? ner that the :user of the same will not have too mueh difiiculty in removing the plug, so that mount it on a gun. Many owners of shotguns were unable to do this and, consequently, had to take their gunsto a-mechanic eapable of dismantling and reassembling the magazine, whenever it was necessaryto place a rod into the magazine or to remove the rod.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a shotgun plug of efiicient and reliable construction which will make it possible for the owner of a gun to readily plug his gun to limit the eeitv f th maga i e ithout e uir n e services oi an x rt to ns t or emo e e Plug d n e om the maga ine- .A fu t ob ec i to rzre i ee un magaz n plu us ith n a shfieteht t pes and whi h is fiie h and requires he minimum of alteration e the gun it elf- Other bi etsand adv n esesqi th nve tio i l be a a en f em t llowing d sc ipt and claim In the a m an n drawin s:

his 1 is a fragm n a e e atio h a sh un o whi e maga lu emb d ng this in e tion may be applied.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a zpartpf the gun as indicated byline 2W2, Fig. 1,-

Fig. Sis a view showing a rod or filler which may be inserted into the-inagazine of the .gun to limit the capacity of thesan e.

Fi 4 i a n tud nal view. pa tl in section,

2 eh ne t-41, i 2 how hs apa 0? th m zine 9 the elm- -Fig, 5 is a similar view showing the magazine when plugged to limit the capacity of the a ma a ine- :Mv hvehtieh i illus rat d in the ac m any-- -hs drewihss vas ap l d to a W l known type of re ea in :sheteim, but it wi b understood ha i i 2 9* n end d to l m t h us o h invene 10 tit e to shot un r thi typ .sihe it w h eh sees tha this in e io may be em oye i eon-motion with guns of other types having a e. ma azine into whi h a seri s ef she s er inserted en $9 e d.

.15 he pa ticula sun il ust a d i s- 1 a d tube, which is usually "mounted immeiia;tely helew ba e and i t whi h sh l s ma be inse tedil! re esen s h ne a th e theeun see r d e sit -wh eh the ehhhe relmeyheattached bvimeehs e th hsue leek shrew M e zmed t e he at w is th s ide J-e hic th ee-eh h ef t e when h e h r M and uitabl me ium meeh nism ee taih d n the eceiv ii e e t the t ns er of a s el z em-the m azin 1. i t

r se s a reeei erexte si by m a e whi h end 9f th -,m zi iet e is e u e te e a re :8, a d 6 rehh s t a s inal ma azin he 42. 1 ih si W thin t ma azin tube, s

and 5 th end o hich act on a 0 5 .iewer H s ehle in the ma az n tub sun he. 1 and ma a ne ube are tae to the receiver Hi, shells may be inserted into the mash him hbe :hv p ess n he sa e a a n t t pee e he :f llewer s eemnr s e t e pr n sed t sp in t p es er 1?! urges-the shells, one role the ma a n i t h eiv r 9 rehe WhiQll th e e o i i ne i the su lee hvl e -ns h eh hism finet shew .45 e 1 i i tieser bed with exee the e th iel ee i sh wn a e hemeh in .sh s new in e ,5?- ei th msel es do 01 u-te e e o is nvent e iiehteap v a m s zihe hits to he $11 1 0 50 the'mihee e e hm ins the number of shells whi h he to the ma azin vI p ovide in the these e e feihwea wh ch is v n a ly 3 base of the follower. lhis aperture is so formed that it may be closed by means of any suitable or desired closure. In some types of guns, the base of the follower is made of thin metal so that it may be impractical to use the same with my improvements, and in such cases, a follower having a base of different shape may be substituted for the follower originally supplied with the gun. In the preferred form of my invention illustrated in the drawings, I provide the aperture 2| with screw threads formed to cooperate with a screw 22 which has a threaded engagement in the aperture ii in such a manner that it can be removed or placed into the aperture as desired. The screw may be provided with the usual screwdriver slot 24 to facilitate turning of the screw. Any suitable means may be provided for holding the follower against turning when the screw 22 is being turned, such for example as one or more holes 26 in the base of the follower, into which an implement may be inserted to hold the follower against turning. When the gun is used in the ordinary manner, Without restricting the number of shells which may be placed in the magazine, the screw in the threaded aperture in no way interferes with the normal use and operation of the gun. However, if it is desired to plug the magazine to limit the number of shells which may be inserted into the same, I provide a rod or filler member 25, Figs. 3 and 5, which may be made of metal, wood or other suitable material. This rod or filler is of such diameter that it may be readily passed through the aperture 2| and through the interior of the spiral spring IS. The rod should be of a length substantially equal to the number of shells which are to be excluded from entering the magazine tube. For example, if the gun has a capacity for six shells, one of which will be located in the barrel itself, and five of which are inserted into the magazine tube, and if the law for a certain type of game requires that only three shells may be used in the gun at one time, one in the barrel and two in the magazine tube, then the rod or filler should be of such length as to exclude three shells from the magazine tube. Consequently, when the rod is inserted through the aperture 2| and arranged within the coils of the spiral spring is, as shown in Fig. 5, the follower I? will be stopped by the rod from moving to the right in the magazine tube after two shells 21 have been inserted into the magazine tube. It will, of course, be obvious that this rod or filler 25 may be made of any desired length so as to permit the insertion into the magazine tube only of the number of shells permitted by law for hunting certain types of game.

In order to facilitate the removal of the rod from the magazine, if the gun is to be used for hunting game on which no limit to the number of shells in the gun exists, the inner face of the base 20 of the magazine follower is preferably provided with a substantially frusto-conical surface 29 which extends from the aperture 2! to the cylindrical side of the follower. Consequently, if the screw 22 is removed and the gun is held in upright position'with the muzzle upwardly, the frusto-conical surface 29 will guide the adjacent end of the rod 25 to the aperture 2| and the rod will readily pass through the aperture so that it can be removed from the gun, whereupon the screw 22 may be replaced in the aperture.

If desired, one end of the rod may be attached to the inner end of the screw 22. The outer edge of the frusto-conical surface 29 forms a seat for 4 the end of the spring it, so that the last coil of the spring, which is generally bent in such a manner as to extend perpendicularly to the length of the spring, will exert a uniform pressure against the follower to prevent any tendency of the same to bind in the magazine tube.

In the use of the magazine plug embodying this invention, it will be obvious that if it becomes necessary to plug the magazine so that the gun will be used for hunting certain types of game, the barrel 8 and magazine tube are first disconnected from the receiver 10 in such a manner that the end of the adjacent end of the magazine tube will be readily accessible for applying a screwdriver, coin or other implement to the slot 24 of the screw for removing the same from the base of the magazine follower, an implement being inserted into the hole or holes 26 if necessary to hold the follower against turning. The rod or filler 25 may then be inserted through the aperture 2! to lie within the coils of the magazine spring [6, whereupon the screw 22 is replaced in the threaded aperture. The rod 25, consequently, forms a stop to limit the extent to which the follower may be moved toward the muzzle end of the magazine tube. This muzzle end is closed by a suitable closure member (not shown), which confines the spring [6 within the magazine tube. After the legal number of shells have been inserted into the magazine, further movement of the follower ill will be prevented, since one end of the rod 25 will engage the closure at the muzzle or outer end of the magazine, while the other end of the rod or filler will engage the follower or screw 22 and thus stop further movement of the follower to the right in Figs. 4 and 5.

When the gun is to be used on game in which no limit exists as to the number of shells which may be contained in the magazine, the screw 22 can be removed and the rod 25 withdrawn from the magazine through the aperture 2|, whereupon the screw 22 may be replaced. The operation of inserting the rod or filler or removing the same from the gun is, consequently, easily performed by any user of the gun. However, the insertion of the rod or filler requires the barrel and magazine to be disconnected from the receiver Ill, and the operation of removing the screw 22 and positioning of the rod 25 Within the magazine requires sufficient time, so that any person using the gun illegally and then attempting to quickly place a rod intothe magazine upon seeing a game warden or inspector, will not be able to do so quickly enough to avoid detecion.

The magazine plug shown and described has the advantage that the rod which limits the capacity of the magazine may be inserted into the magazine and removed therefrom by merely removing and replacing the screw 22, so that no dismantling and reassemblying of the magazine is required to insert or remove the rod.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of parts which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention, as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a plug device for a magazine of a repeating shotgun, comprising a follower slidable in the magazine anda helical spring in the magazine acting on said follower to urge the same toward the shell discharge end of the magazine,

that improvement which comprises a threaded aperture in the base of said follower, and a screw removably engaging in said threaded aperture, and a rod of a diameter to permit inserting said rod through said threaded aperture and into said helical spring, said rod when placed in said magazine and after said screw is replaced in said threaded aperture serving to limit the extent to which said follower may move to permit insertion of shells into said magazine.

2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that the base of said follower has a substantially frusto-conical inner surface extending from said threaded aperture to the inner face of the side wall of the follower to form a seat for one end of said helical spring and to guide said rod to said aperture when it is desired to remove said rod from said magazine.

3. In a tubular magazine for a gun provided with a substantially cylindrical follower having a base and slidable lengthwise in said magazine and spring means in said magazine for urging said follower toward the shell receiving and discharging end of the magazine, that improvement which includes an aperture in the base of said follower, a removable closure for said aperture. and a rod of a diameter less than that of said aperture and which may be inserted into said magazine through said aperture and retained therein by said closure and which limits the extent to which said follower may move in said magazine to limit the number of shells that may be inserted into said magazine.

4. A device according to claim 3, in which said spring means is a helical spring arranged lengthwise in said magazine and bearing at one end on said follower and within which said rod may be arranged when inserted into said magazine through said aperture, and in which the base of said follower has a substantially frustoconical inner face extending from said aperture to the side wall of said follower to guide said rod to said aperture when removing said rod from said magazine.

NORMAN A. I-IEMMERLING.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Ehrhardt Dec. 9, 1924 Number 

